We called up Todd Barry, close friend of Louis C.K. and frequent guest star on Louie (including this season!), after he had finished watching the most recent episode of the FX show. This is what he had to say.

ESQUIRE: What did you think of the show?

TODD BARRY: Oh, I liked it. I have some thoughts. Do you want me to just rattle them off?

ESQ: Yeah, then we'll get specific.

TB: It really moved. It seemed like it was over in ten minutes.

ESQ: It did go by quickly.

TB: Especially when you're fast-forwarding past most of it.

ESQ: You only like to watch when you're onscreen?

TB: Yeah. I skip to the end credits to see if I'm on, and if I don't see my name, I don't watch... No, I just thought it was great that he got Melissa Leo on the show.

ESQ: What a pedigree!

TB: Yeah, I'm glad she was able to parlay an Academy Award into a part on a TV show where she blows Louis C.K. In a car. I also loved that it was this episode that had a knock-knock joke scene and a cunnilingus scene, and the knock-knock joke scene was much longer.

ESQ: Your job on Louie seems to be to show up and give Louis a hard time. Is that what your friendship is like?

TB: He's probably as much of an insulter as I am, probably worse. But yeah, it's all playful. There was one episode we did last season where I went on a whole rant about submerging his mother in a bathtub full of homeless-person diarrhea, and that was actually something I used to say to him, so I sort of wrote that little line. I showed up on the set, and he's like, "Remember that thing you used to say to me?" "Yes, I do."

ESQ: Does his mother watch the show?

TB: I imagine she does. What's she gonna do, right?

ESQ: Have you met her?

TB: I think I did meet her a long time ago. I've known him for over twenty years. I knew him before he was famous. He is famous, right?

ESQ: I think so. Have you ever been married?

TB: No, no, no. I haven't.

ESQ: Do you think it's worse to be trapped in a complacent marriage or to be navigating the kind of crazy shit that Louie was with Melissa Leo's character?

TB: I don't think it's always a choice between being in a bored marriage or being... borderline-raped. And not all women are like Melissa Leo.

ESQ: Her character goes down on Louie and expects him to respond in kind. Do you think that kind of reciprocal oral-sex arrangement is advisable?

TB: Obviously. There's the way you feel before, but after, you might not feel as giving. To be fair to that hypothetical scene that happened, it's not like he said — it was her idea. You also might want to think, maybe the type of person who would say, "Do you want me to blow you?" might have a side to her that's a little... difficult?

ESQ: Do you think he went down on her because she accused him of being gay?

TB: I kind of thought that he knew she was being manipulative, but he also did seem to be rattled by it. She also seemed a little violent.

ESQ: So he was scared of her. And maybe there was a genuine connection?

TB: Once they warmed up to each other and got out of that oppressive house they were in, he seemed to enjoy... By that bar montage, you could just see all the smiles. That they were enjoying each other's company.